第一段第四句话

Spero blames the softening economy.

知识点一：blames 归咎于

例句：
    She blames her negligence.
    她归咎于她的疏忽。

重要补充

owe... to ...    归咎于...
attribute...to...把原因归为...

high achievers owe their success mostly to nurture.
成就高的人成功的主要原因是后天的培养。

high achievers = those who have high achievements.

nurture v/n.养育，栽培
nutrition n.营养

According to the author, the department stores of the 19th century owed its emergence to the culture of consumption.
在作者看来，19世纪百货商店的出现原因是消费文化。

supermarket = department store 百货商店
emergence n.出现，新生事物的出现
emerge v.出现
emerging countries 新兴国家
emerging economies 新兴的经济体

she owers the accident to her negligence.
她把事故的原因归咎为她的疏忽。

知识点二：the softening economy

同义替换的多变化
    the softening economy
    the slowing economy
    the slowdown
    the economy is cooling